Obama open to taxing health benefits?

"President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to taxing health care benefits, something he campaigned hard against while running for president, according to senators who met with him Tuesday. . . . The president adamantly opposed health benefit taxes during the campaign, arguing they would undermine job-based coverage, and he criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain for proposing a sweeping version of the same basic idea. But since taking office he and members of his administration have indicated openness to almost all suggestions from Congress on health care, including taxing benefits."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1077285.html

Assume your benefits are worth at least $500 per month. You'll get a tax increase equal to approximately one quarter to one third of that, which is much more than the amount of any of the miniscule "middle class tax cuts" previously announced.

Obama falsely promised to reform health care and expand coverage without increasing costs. He told everyone what they wanted to hear. Now, he's in this bind.

Why not simply tell the truth - - quality universal health care is expensive, to do it right will probably require a 1% payroll tax, and it's worth it.

Cuba issue tearing apart OAS

"Cuba came closer Tuesday to ending its 47-year suspension from the Organization of American States, but after working throughout the weekend, diplomats failed to come up with a way to readmit the communist nation in a way that satisfies both its leftist allies and those who insist on democratic principles. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said the divisive issue threatens the very existence of the OAS, a hemispheric group founded in 1948 that serves as the region's principal multilateral forum. . . . The issue put the Obama administration in a delicate spot as it took a leadership role in keeping Cuba from being brought back into the diplomatic fold while at the same time publicly initiating dialogue with the Castro government on long-dormant topics such as immigration and direct mail."

http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/1078657.html

This is what happens when your rhetoric doesn't match your policies. It may work as a campaign strategy, but not as a governing strategy.

Remember Katrina?

The same people who no longer care about US troops being killed in Iraq . . . no longer care about Katrina survivors.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/1077011.html

After the years of criticism of the prior administration over their handling of the issue, wouldn't you have thought homeless Gulf Coast hurricane survivors would be a top priority of this administration?

Taxing employer-provided health benefits?

"A Senate chairman who has a major role in writing health care legislation said Tuesday he hopes to convince President Barack Obama that taxing some employer-provided benefits will help control escalating costs. . . . Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. . . . said the tax-free benefit packages Americans now enjoy are a big factor in the high costs of the country's health care system, because they provide workers free or low-cost access to too many health care services."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1077285.html

The senate finance chair thinks "tax-free benefit packages" "are a big factor in the high costs of the country's health care system, because they provide workers free or low-cost access to too many health care services"?

I thought the whole idea of health care reform was to provide more workers with more free or low-cost access to more health care services.

Contrary to campaign promises, the focus continues to shift from expanding coverage to containing costs.

Uighurs

Uighurs. "[T]he men whom a federal judge ordered released from these remote prison camps in October 2008. Instead, the military moved the men to a small razor-wire ringed compound called Camp Iguana."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/1077014.html

Uighurs. The men candidate Obama promised to release.

Not a good idea

"White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is declining to say what it cost for President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, to eat dinner and take in a play in New York over the weekend."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1076399.html

Flying at taxpayer expense to New York for a night on the town is never a good idea.

Flying at taxpayer expense to New York for a night on the town the weekend before you force GM into bankruptcy and destroy the lives of thousands is a particularly bad idea.

The murder of Dr. George Tiller

Dr. George Tiller was one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions. He was repeatedly investigated by publicity hungry prosecutors, and repeatedly acquitted. He was shot and killed Sunday in a mainstream, mainline church, where he was serving as an usher.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090531/ap_on_re_us/us_tiller_shooting

The murder of Dr. George Tiller guarantees abortion (including late term abortion) will remain legal for at least another 10 years.

The murder of Dr. George Tiller guarantees that all future Obama court appointees will be expressly pro choice.

And, the murder of Dr. George Tiller guarantees that all the extraordinary terrorism fighting powers granted the executive since 2001 will be used to fight domestic anti-abortion terror.

These are all things which Dr. Tiller would have wanted.